Ways to distinguish yourself – #29 Watch your standard practices

Today I was meeting an old friend over a cup of coffee. My friend asked about my upcoming book “Beyond Code”
and I was more than happy to talk about it. Something caught his
attention and he said, I have to make a note of it. He opened a
notebook and scribbled something. This happened a few times and he
would scribble something. After watching him for sometime I could not
resist but asking “Can you really read what you wrote?” and he quickly responded “Most of the time I can but sometimes I can’t”

We talked about this “very”
thing. By the end of the meeting I could see that there was a marked
difference in the way he wrote notes. He was happy to see the change.
All it took was a LITTLE bit more effort than normal.

My point was that we all have a choice on these simple things – do we
write or do we scribble. Most of the time it doesn’t matter but when it
matters, it COSTS a lot. Taking notes is one of the many standard
practices that we have. If we give it the due attention and have some
discipline, we can reap multiple rewards (“Every disciplined effort has multiple rewards” – Jim Rohn)
It’s a choice we all make. The returns for having discipline in our
standard practice comes over a long time. It is worth the effort!!

What are the standard practices in your life? How much attention do you
give to each of these standard practices. I picked “note taking” as an
example because it’s easy to ignore it (saying “I won’t share it with
anyone. It’s FOR MY EYES ONLY”) thinking nobody will notice it. You
can’t wear a mask or you can’t live your life with a multiple
personality disorder. You really can’t live two lives. Best is to fix
yourself once for all not based on situations and contexts.